The Next Avatar (On Hold)

Chapter 13

Everything seemed to stop as she walked inside and slammed the door. A short dark skinned woman stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at the 2 burly men. "Brutus and Duke, I should have known. What do you think you're doing?" The man who had shoved Leo to the ground earlier stepped forward and reached for her. "Cleo, my love, why I was only-" Before he could finish, she shoved him away harshly.

"Don't come near me you filthy brute." Her voice was filled with venom and she looked down at him with disgust. The man grew angry at her actions and his face turned red. "I've put up with your meddling ways for far too long. This dirty old man owes me 30,000 yuan and I'm going to get it! It's too bad you know. The debt would have easily been repaid if you had given yourself to me."

The woman glared at him before pulling out a brown package from her pocket. She threw it at him and walked towards the door. The man opened the package and pulled out a hefty amount of paper bills. "This is-" She opened the door and turned back to the man. "30,000 yuan. Now that you have your money, leave." Leo looked shocked and spoke out immediately. "Cleo, I can't let you do that. It's my debt to repay. There's no reason for you to-"

"This is my decision Leo. Please let me repay you for all you have done for me." Leo looked reluctant but the woman seemed determined and her word was final. After a few seconds of silence, the man growled before shoving the money into his pocket and leaving with his companion. The door slammed shut and the people inside the restaurant stared in awe at the woman. She sighed before looking across the room. Her eyes suddenly widened as they landed on me.

Then I recognized her. She was the swamp bender from before. I didn't recognize her earlier because she wasn't fully visible to me. Not only that, but she was wearing nice clothes and makeup. She was wearing a short black skirt, white high heels and a long pink coat. The outfit made her seem older and more mature. I found myself staring at her along with everyone else in the restaurant.

"What are you doing here?" I stood up slowly as she approached me. "Oh..uh I was hungry so..W-Well I saw this restaurant and I was hungry so-" She interrupted me. "Yeah, I think I got that part. I meant why are you in Republic City?" I looked around the restaurant, noticing the 3 brothers had started to clean up the mess the burly men had made and the women were leaving. Leo stood by the door offering his apologies to the women as they left in a hurry.

"Are you listening to me?" I quickly turned and apologized. "Sorry. I was a little distracted." I said softly. "Whatever." She huffed. She seemed upset that I hadn't been paying attention so I thought of a way to make her happy. "Um...you look really pretty." She crossed her arms. "I know." Leo came over to us and thanked Cleo. "I can't thank you enough for what you did Cleo. Surely, one day, I will repay you. But for now, how about a free meal?"

Cleo nodded and ordered vegetable noodles and sweet buns. "How about a drink Leo?" He hesitated for a minute but the pleading look on her face made him cave in. "Okay, Okay." He handed her a large glass and she gulped it down quickly. She had downed 3 more glasses before I began to notice changes in her. She was slumped over more and her eyes were a bit glazed.

She started shoving the noodles down her throat and digging into the sweet buns. I looked at the buns curiously as she ate. Seeming to notice my gaze, she stopped eating and stared at me. "Haven't you ever had a sweet bun?" Her voice was slightly slurred as she spoke. "N-No." She gasped dramatically before slowly picking one up and, without warning, shoving it into my mouth. I drew back, alarmed and nearly choking. I grabbed her glass and quickly drank whatever was inside. "Geez you drank it all! Leo, another!"

After she finished eating, she rubbed her stomach and let out a groan. "Man I'm really in the mood for possum chicken stew!" I held the sweet buns close to me as I ate them. They were so good~ "Hey Louie!" She slurred. "His name is Leo." The 3 brothers were also drinking the strange liquid. They came over to us and sat down. "Hello ladies." The eldest smiled cheerfully. "What do you want!" Cleo slurred. "I want to get to know you." He winked. Cleo rolled her eyes but I could see her cheeks growing pink.

"I want some more sweet buns." I murmured. The youngest wrapped his arm around my shoulders and I felt my face heat up. "Look she's all red." Cleo announced. "Cleo." I whined. "Hey Leo, can you give us another order of sweet buns?" The youngest said. Leo laughed as he carried yet another tray of sweet buns to our table. My face grew warm and I thanked the youngest brother.

All through the night we drank that strange liquid and played fun games. We talked and they told jokes and we all laughed. I felt so happy and I shared my thoughts. This liquid made me less anxious. I could laugh with them and I didn't feel scared or out of place for the first time in my life. I learned the youngest boys name was Jax. The second oldest boys name was Len and the oldest boys name was Blane.

As the night wore on, I grew tired and
found myself falling asleep on Jax's shoulder. Awhile later, I felt someone carrying me on their back. They had strong arms and smelled like soap. I heard voices too. Cleo and Blane's mostly. They were laughing and talking about Blane's adventures to Ba sing se. Their voices were still slightly slurred as they talked. I didn't know where we were going, but my eyes didn't seem to want to open. I felt like I was forgetting something but I was too tired. After listening for a minute or two longer, I drifted off to sleep.